Supremacy of
apocalyptic prophecy
Because apocalyptic
prophecy is unconditional, all other
prophecies of the Bible are
subordinate to apocalyptic
sequencing. This means that
apocalyptic prophecy determines the
chorological placement of
non-apocalyptic prophecies. For
example, Amos, Ezekiel, Joel, Obadiah
and many New Testament prophets
believed that the great and awful day
of the Lord was “near” and
plainly so. (See Appendix B.)
There’s no question that what
they saw in vision led them to
conclude that the “Great Day of
the Lord” was at hand. In
Revelation, John also indicates that
the fulfillment of the things he saw
was near or soon. The problem
is that the ancient prophets did not
understand how their visions fit into
the overall chronology of God’s
larger plan.
No one prophet was
shown everything that God
intends to bring about. No disciple
of Jesus expected that time would
last another 2,000 years. Paul sums
up the process of prophetic
revelations saying, “In the
past God spoke to our forefathers
through the prophets at many times
and in various ways…. For we
know in part and we prophesy in
part.” (Hebrews 1:1, 1
Corinthians 13:9) So, each time God
spoke to a prophet about the end of
time, more details were provided.
But, without understanding the
sequences of events, that is, the
backbone of apocalyptic prophecy,
prophecies about the “Great Day
of the Lord” cannot be
chronologically placed nor can their
content be fully appreciated.
Is God restricted by
His own word?
Some argue that
imposing the fulfillment of certain
prophetic events before the Second
Coming can occur restricts God’s
sovereignty. This argument stands
without merit when we understand that
it is God who gave prophecies in the
first place. It was God who
originally set the time-schedule
according to His own authority. It
was God who revealed the schedule to
man. And, God will keep the
schedule He has set. Acts 1:7 clearly
says that the Father has set
appointed times and seasons.
Some also argue that
the words near and soon should be
understood from God’s
perspective, that is, with God, a day
is as a thousand years and a thousand
years as a day. These will often show
that a thousand years can exist
between two verses because with God,
time is nothing. Now think of this
point. What rule of interpretation
consistently explains when a thousand
yeas exist between two verses and
when a thousand years does not exist
between two verses? If a thousand
years exist between verses that
appear to be adjacent, then we are
left without any means of knowing
when the end of the world is due.
On the other hand,
some claim that the last days began
at Calvary. What sense does this
make? If the past 2,000 years can be
termed, “last days,” then
we would be justified in saying that
another 2,000 years could also
qualify as “last days.” The
reader is encouraged to read Appendix
B for more discussion on these
points.
The point here is that
apocalyptic prophecy serves as an
organizer for understanding
God’s timetable. Because His
chronology has not been correctly
understood in times past, a number of
people across the centuries have
declared prophecies to be fulfilled,
when in reality fulfillment did not
occur. Remember, fulfillment requires
two affirming actions: first, all
specifications of the prophecy has to
be met; and secondly, the event must
happen in its chronological order. If
little system of checks and balances
is ignored, the result will be
nothing less than prophetic confusion
and uncertainty.
Supporting
information
The books of Daniel
and Revelation also contain
additional information that supports
their apocalyptic prophecies. This
information includes historical
settings and apocalyptic parallels.
For example, in the book of Daniel we
learn how Daniel got to Babylon, how
the three Hebrews were tested on the
plain of Dura and a host of other
things. Of course, there is
discussion about the contents of the
visions, but it is the visions
themselves that declare the order of
events. For this reason it is
important that we establish where
each vision begins its story and
where it ends its story. For example,
apocalyptic story one begins in
Daniel 2:29 and ends with verse 35.
In the book of
Revelation, we find some information
that is not apocalyptic. For example,
there is historical data, some
information about Jesus in heaven,
why John was on the isle of Patmos,
the condition of the seven churches
in Asia Minor at the time of
John’s vision, and some
commentary. In fact Revelation 17 is
entirely devoted to commentary and
Revelation 22:6 begins with an
epilogue. Even though there is more
to Daniel and Revelation than their
prophetic content, only those
portions of Daniel and Revelation
that lay out a sequence of events
that qualify as apocalyptic prophecy.
Supporting doctrines
The reader must
understand that apocalyptic prophecy
requires a clear understanding of the
five major doctrines. If these
doctrines are not correctly
understood, the climax of
Revelation’s story makes no
sense. In fact, the major reasons for
prophetic denominations today are
doctrine not rules of interpretation!
For example, if a person holds to the
doctrine of an eternally burning
hell, then Revelation 20 makes no
senses whatsoever. In short,
here’s the problem. Suppose
Julius Caesar went to hell at his
death in 44 B.C. Why would God
resurrect him at the end of the
millennium only to burn him up in the
lake of fire that follows? To
make matters worse, how could Julius
Caesar already be in hell when the
judgment of human beings takes place
at a specific point in time?
Even more, if the wages of sin is
burning in hell for eternity, then
Jesus didn’t pay the penalty for
sin. He was only dead for three days.
My point is this: a correct
interpretation of Revelation requires
a sound doctrinal position on five
eternal truths. They area:
The authority of God
The appearing of God
The temple of God
The salvation of God
The condition of man
in life and death
These wonderful themes
are closely examined in my book, The
Revelation of Jesus.
Start and stop
It is most important
that we identify when in time each
apocalyptic prophecy begins and ends.
For this reason, all 17 apocalyptic
prophecies of Daniel and Revelation
are chronologically presented in the
chart at the end of this study.
The reader is reminded
that the original manuscripts of
Daniel and Revelation did not include
chapter and verse designations. These
“helps” were added
centuries after the manuscripts were
written, to facilitate the study of
the Bible. By using chapter and verse
notation, students can quickly find a
sentence or group of sentences for
further investigation. These
well-intentioned helps can create a
minor problem. Since we normally
think of a chapter in the Bible as a
complete unit, it is easy to overlook
the 17 prophecies because they are
grouped differently than chapter
units. So, do not be confused by the
fact that prophecies can begin and
end anywhere within a chapter.
Watch for the signs
Read this sentence
twice: One prophecy ends and another
begins when the next event
chronologically occurs before the
previous event. For example, suppose
you are reading about the six seals
in Revelation 6. As you read verses
12-17, the sixth seal is described.
This seal describes the second advent
of Jesus and this prophecy ends with
verse 17. After you finish reading
verse 17, the following verse begins
talking about four angels holding
back the four winds. See Revelation
7:1. Since the four angels hold back
the four winds before the
second coming of Jesus, the beginning
of a new prophecy is detected. (It
just so happens in this case that a
chapter break also occurs at the end
of the six seals prophecy.) Remember
though, a story does not begin
because a new chapter ends or begins.
A new story only begins when the
next event chronologically occurs
before the previous event. This
simple process never fails.
Here is another
essential point: The elements of each
prophecy happens in the order in
which they are given. This means that
each prophecy progresses from its
beginning point to its ending point
just as it is written. On a few rare
occasions, the order of a prophecy is
momentarily broken so important
details can be given to the reader.
However, these momentary breaks do
not affect the obvious sequence of
the prophecy.
Big points and little
points
This writer cannot
accurately explain every detail in
Daniel and Revelation. And I will not
be surprised if I wrongfully
interpret some of the prophetic
elements. No one human can know
everything there is to know about the
Bible. But, I also believe it is
possible to come close to
understanding the truth by careful
investigation. Prophetic truth has
several dimensions. For example, we
may correctly place the occurrence of
the fifth trumpet but wrongfully
interpret the event. Or, we may
correctly interpret the fifth trumpet
and wrongfully calculate the time of
the occurrence.
But the exciting point
for me as a student of Bible prophecy
is that I don’t have to wait
long to see how my conclusions
compare with reality. I believe
events of global consequence are soon
to take place. Obscure prophetic
matters will soon become clear as
events unfold. But the essential
matters will be understood in
advance, for the purpose of
apocalyptic prophecy is this: God
desires that His people understand
His actions in advance so that when
fulfillments occur, our faith might
be strengthened.
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